Though I say “yes I see”, no I really don't see (is my smiley face still on?): beer (brewing and drinking), camping, eating, hugging trees, kiting, fishing, ironing, hiking, geocaching and munzing, painting (oils, emulsion and gloss), ranting, recording history as I see it. Days with family, days with friends, days with granddogs. Always an opinion (always wrong), and rarely a dull moment. Welcome to my world... remember - history is written by those who make the effort to write it.

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23 January 2014 (Thursday) - References

I shared my brekkie toast
with a very tired dog this morning as I watched the latest episode of
"The Tomorrow People". I do like this series, but
featuring the utterly unlikely scenario of a somewhat geeky teenaged
lad (with super powers) with loads of rather attractive girls
as platonic friends, it's covering TV territory that Smallville did
to death years ago.

I drove to work through
thick fog. As I drove I listened to the news. There was very little
of note really, which was probably for the best as far as my blood
pressure is concerned. I really should stop getting worked up about
things over which I have no control.

I stopped off at
Morrisons for some fruit for lunch; one day I will find one of their
self-service checkouts that actually works without needing the
intervention of their helpful (!) staff.

And so to work. As I
arrived the fog cleared, and I spent much of the morning looking out
at glorious sunshine; sulking that the last two days were very wet
for dog walking. There's no denying I had a wry smile when the rain
came at lunchtime just as a colleague was saying goodbye as he took
the afternoon off.

I don't mind working when
it rains. But I was glad the rain had stopped before home time.

Lamb chops for tea. Very
tasty.

I've had an email. In a
previous life I used to be a manager. In that capacity I have been
asked to provide a reference for someone who I employed through a
temp agency several years ago. The chap in question was employed for
two months some six or more years ago. And despite such a short
tenure such a long time ago, I remember him vividly.

He was specifically
employed to work at nights and weekends but didn't actually do so. I
would find it difficult to quantify the amount of sick leave he took
in only two months. On several occasions I received cryptic third
hand reports that he had phoned in sick due to ongoing hay fever,
only to be told by him (on his return) that he had not been
off sick; he had taken leave which he insisted he had previously
discussed with me.

As for leave, he would
not ask permission before planning or booking it. He would instead
announce that he was taking time off. He seemed oblivious to the fact
that we were short staffed (for various reasons) and the sole reason
for his employment was to shore up our short-handedness. Also he did
not take agreed amounts of time of leave. Instead he would go on
leave for a few days, and return when he felt like it.

He took rather a lot of
leave in just two short months.

His telephone manner was
abrupt and abrasive. His timekeeping was abysmal. His social skills
were non-existent. He offended most of the staff during his short
tenure, and those few he didn't actively upset didn't like him much
either.

Whilst at work (and
between leave and sickness he didn't actually show up much in those
two months) he spent an inordinate amount of time on his mobile phone
(despite having been asked not to carry the thing on several
occasions).

He is best summed up by
his departure. He left giving little notice (just before he was
going to get the bum's rush) to take up a job in London,
announcing very loudly into his mobile phone to everyone within
earshot that “being in f***ing country bumpkin land is doing my
f***ing noddle in”. His arrogant and unreliable nature soured
me against him, and I told his temp agency I would not want him back.

Now, years later, this
chap now wants a reference so he can go work overseas. He's after a
"skilled migration Visa" because he wants to go and
live in Australia. I can't help but wonder if I should pretend I've
never seen this email.